Porte is Giro’s Best Young Rider

The Young Guns races in the Grand Tours are within a bigger race with a general classification of their own. Rarely, a young rider gets all out support from his team in vying for the jersey.

It has been a remarkable race for neo-pro Richie Porte in his first Grand Tour. He won the Maglia Bianca this year as a pro with Bjarne Riis’s crew Saxo Bank. Though signing late in 2009, he made his first pro win in the Tour of Romandie and wore the leader’s jersey at the Giro for three days. In the general classification he took the third place on stage 14 and wore the white jersey to the finish today in Verona. He finished 11th in the time trial and an impressive 7th ranking in the overall standing.

A few years back, it was Andy Schleck who exhibited such an impressive record. Following his acceleration to be one of the best riders to beat, Porte may just have what it takes to be on the same league in the future.

The Best Young Rider G.C. is packed with promising cycling talents of the future. The likes of Rober Kiserlovski of Croatia who is second to Ivan Basso to win the overall, not to mention Richie aside from the top team in this year’s race.

Making a comeback was Bauke Mollema of Rabobank who was taken ill last year. Likewise, his teammate Steve Kruijswijk rode impressively. Francis De Gref of Omega Pharma made it to the top five in the classification.